Product Description

A totally engrossing and atmospheric series, full of secrets, magic and time travel.

William, Mary and Alice encounter a magician from another time who gives them magical powers and sets them on important tasks.

The three children arrive at Golden House on their holidays, and they soon realize that there is something very mysterious about the ancient house.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #809909 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-12
• Released on: 2005-05-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 239 pages

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-With their doctor parents in Ethiopia, William Constant and his younger sisters must spend winter holidays with their Uncle Jack and his girlfriend in a remote mansion in Wales. The children adore their Uncle Jack, but are suspicious of pregnant Phoebe, a vegetarian. With nothing to do and the prospect of a meatless Christmas dinner staring them in the face, the youngsters are miserable. Then, as Uncle Jack begins to discover the strange history of his newly purchased house and Phoebe and the animals of the countryside begin acting strangely, the siblings notice a window at the top of the chimney. Quick figuring leads them to the conclusion that there is a secret room, and thanks to a trick of the light, William discovers the steps in the chimney that lead them to a magician. Stephen Tyler, magician and visitor from the past, says they will be tested, and they are. When the house becomes snowbound and Phoebe goes into labor, it's up to the children and their animal companions to save the day (and the baby). This first book in a quartet (already finished in its native Britain) might be paced a bit slowly for some American readers, but the writing is excellent, the mood appropriate and sustained, and the characters nicely rounded. A must for all paperback fantasy collections.-Timothy Capehart, Leominster Public Library, MA

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Review
" 'A remarkable magical fantasy' - The Sunday Times 'One of the best-written and most exciting series of novels for young readers' - Good Housekeeping"

About the Author
William Corlett grew up in Yorkshire. After training at RADA, he worked as an actor in the theatre and on television before devoting himself full-time to writing. His teen-novel The Gate of Eden was successfully dramatised in the 1970s, and he won an Emmy for his dramatisation of The Magician's House for the BBC.